A Mutual Understanding
by Aeanagwen
Summary: Gratuitous slash set during the Masquerade Arc. On the blessing of having an--understanding partner.


"You're a little hard on him, don't you think?" 

Kazuma turned a cynical eye on her partner. Nonomiya smiled back, the calm, self-assured little smile she'd had for as long as Kazuma had known her. 

"Who, Terazuma? Not hardly," she scoffed as they left the break room. "I don't think I'm hard _enough._ The cat-brained idiot doesn't know how to treat a girl right." 

"Well, not everyone has your experience." 

The brunette started to respond, then paused, giving her companion a suspicious look. It might have been an innocent comment, or it might not have been. It could be hard to tell, with Nonomiya. 

"Yeah, well," she continued, "it's not that hard. You'd have to be blind to miss her liking him anyway, dammed if I can figure out her taste in men." 

"It's young love," came the easy-going response. "They're always oblivious, at that age." 

Kazuma rolled her eyes, jabbing the elevator button. "It's sickening is what it is. You saw how many boys over in our department practically emptied their pockets on Valentine's Day. She'd have her pick." 

"She's already picked." Kazuma sighed at her partner's note of gentle affection, stepping into the elevator and leaning against the railing. 

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. "But I'm still going to beat his head in if he doesn't straighten up." 

- 

Nonomiya stuck her head around the open bathroom door. Steam made the air heavy and hot; the blonde waved a hand in the air, grateful that she hadn't done her hair or makeup yet. Kazuma, her dark hair curling in damp whorls on her neck, was wrapped in a towel and rummaging in the closet. 

"Kochou! Where's the hair dryer? If you left it on the cabinet again, I swear--ack!" 

The yelling corkscrewed up to a yelp as hand met curve of bare flesh; Kazuma jumped back and glared, red-faced, at her partner. 

"No yelling in the house, Shin-chan," the older woman chided with a blithe smile. 

Kazuma scowled, drawing the towel closer around her torso, tugging the edges down. 

"You don't mind me yelling when--" 

"That's different and you know it," the blonde responded cheerfully, bending down and deftly pulling the hair dryer out of a shadowed corner of the bottom shelf. 

"You hid it to make me bend over," Kazuma accused, snatching it away and going to plug it in. 

"Don't be silly, Shin-chan," Nonomiya chirped, and waited. As anticipated, her partner shot her an expectant look, still flushed. She smiled, and let the thought hang wordless in the air. 

_I've got better ways of doing that._

- 

Kazuma stood back from Hurricane Tatsumi, snagging an unopened bottle of wine in her retreat then joining her partner in leaning against the wall and watching the chaos. 

"Everytime I see something like this, I'm more and more grateful that our budget's not in his hands," she quipped. 

Nonomiya chuckled. "He's certainly done wonders for it." She paused, eyes seeking out one of the shinigami in particular. "Tsuzuki-san's all right?" she asked softly. 

The brunette followed her gaze to Tsuzuki and his partner. The elder was protesting as Tatsumi loaded him down with food, the younger standing a few feet away, looking decidedly exasperated. She studied them critically. 

"He looks okay. It's hard to tell with him, but he's doing a hell of a lot better now than when I found him." 

"What had he seen? I know there are strange things here." 

"Strange isn't anywhere near a strong enough word," Kazuma said scornfully, then shrugged. "Some man with his arms hacked off and a fixation on white." 

"Mm." Nonomiya was silent for a moment, then a smile came to her lips. "I saw what you did to the door," she said fondly. "Very impressive." 

The taller woman shrugged again, dismissively. "Whatever gets the job done." 

"But they don't use cheap wood in this place," Nonomiya returned. 

"All that means is that they'll take it out of my paycheck." She broke off as her companion leaned up to her ear. 

"Have I ever told you," the blonde whispered, breath teasing at her neck, "that you're sexy when you're causing property damage?" 

- 

Nonomiya flicked a few bits if fuzz off her dress uniform, then hung it beside Kazuma's and shut the closet. She smiled to herself, listening to her partner bustle around the kitchen, probably trying to clear a space for the wine. Toeing out of her pumps, she sat down on the bed long enough to peel off her stockings, then padded out of the bedroom. 

Kazuma was squatting in front of the fridge, a few bottles of juice scattered around her on the floor. The tails of her dress shirt dangled just above the tiles, and her tie hung loose around her neck. 

"And I suppose you're just going to combine all those?" Nonomiya asked dryly, nodding to the uprooted drinks. 

"Sure am. It saves space." 

The blonde laughed. "If not tastebuds." 

"You don't drink it anyway. It's all the same stuff, just mixed well," Kazuma returned, sitting back on her heels as she slid the wine into a cleared space with a satisfied smile. 

Her partner gathered up the juice bottles and set them on the counter. 

"Have at, mad scientist." 

The brunette shot her a grin and stood in a smooth motion, coming over to start pouring all the drinks into the largest bottle. Nonomiya watched, caught in private admiration for a woman who was in better shape than any other woman in JuOhCho, and most of the men, besides. Kazuma Shin, she reflected, had the best legs she'd ever seen. Thank the gods for the mini-skirts the younger woman was so fond of. 

Feeling a gaze on her, she looked up into sardonic brown eyes. 

"You checkin' me out, Kochou?" 

Nonomiya smiled. "Only every time I see you, Shin." 

Kazuma rolled her eyes, cheeks turning a satisfying faint pink, and tossed the bottles in the trash, sticking the full one back in the fridge. 

"We should get out of these shirts," the blonde continued blithely. "Wouldn't want them to get wrinkled." 

Kazuma smiled, a slow, lean smirk that brought joy to Nonomiya's heart, and stepped closer, winding an arm around the smaller woman's waist. 

"We can always iron them later." 

Nonomiya reached up to tug at the brunette's tie, leisurely undoing it as Kazuma scooped her up and headed for the bedroom. "Tsk. Always putting off chores." 

"Chores can wait until morning. It's been a long day." 

"If you insist. You'll have to help me with these buttons, though." She wrapped her arms around her partner's neck and leaned in to murmur. "I think one of them's stuck." 

"I think one of mine might be too," the younger woman returned huskily as she closed the door behind her with one foot and walked over to set Nonomiya down on the bed. 

"Oh? Well, we'll just have to trade off then, won't we?" 

"Sounds like a plan." 

A kiss. Hands in hair and unfastening clothing to caress down skin, then the cool of bedsheets driven back by the heat of intimacy. 

_Really, it's so nice to have a partner who knows you so well._

* * *

This was written for a challenge to write either het (that didn't involve Terazuma and Wakaba) or yuri for Yami no Matsuei, a series wherein the yaoi boys get all the ficlove. I picked yuri, because Kazuma and Nonomiya Are So Fucking. They're the Peace Preservation Bureau girls, for anyone who doesn't remember. 

Like it? E-mail me! Fanfiction   
Main 


End file.
